Skip to content

LETTER: 'Mammoth task' of vaccinations requires patience

We need a reality check, should go about our business, safely, and re-visit the situation at the end of January, says letter writer
2015 10 13 flushot

MidlandToday welcomes letters to the editor. This letter is in response to the ongoing controversy about the speed at which vaccines are being conducted. Send your letter to [email protected]

********************
From his podium, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pronounces that he is disappointed with the speed of COVID-19 vaccinations being carried out by the provinces.

In response, General Hillier replies that Ontario needs more vaccination supply. They are joined by Opposition critics, health-care workers, union strategists, and all the other experts commenting on the speed of vaccination.

I suggest that we all take a minute for a reality check, go about our business, while taking all the precautionary measures, and re-visit the situation at the end of January.

In my experience, December is the most difficult month of the year to make anything happen because of holiday fever, closings, and a general slowdown. For that reason, I am not surprised that vaccination rates in December didn't meet expectations.

Add to that other factors.

Canada is a very large land mass. We can lose many countries in any one of our provinces. So comparisons don't make any sense.

We are doing this process for the first time, during a pandemic.

The first vaccination that Canada was provided with, Pfizer, requires a refrigeration process of -75 degrees. That's not exactly everybody's refrigerator and when you factor that into moving the vaccine around a province such as Ontario, it is a major issue. It should be much easier to plan for and distribute the Moderna vaccine.

Many provinces have made principled decisions to innoculate seniors and workers in long-term care homes first and then as many First Nation bands as possible. That has to be factored into the vaccination plan.

All in all, in most provinces, this is a mammoth task. Let's give everyone a fair chance to do their job. We will all be much better informed at the end of January.

Doug Lewis
Orillia

********************